After we take an accounting of the past year, file away the 2013 calendar that chronicled every high and low of our hopes and dreams, our sorrows and our surprises, it is time to look forward to the promises of 2014. Some members of the HVWS community consciously use the earliest days of the new year as a time for deep contemplation. The leadership of HVWS, the Board of Trustees, and the College of Teachers (faculty leadership) have started the work of re-considering our Long-Range Plan, a living document that is reviewed periodically to help steer the course HVWS throughout its journey.

It has been almost 25 years since the seeds of HVWS were sown. There was but a single vision—Create a Waldorf school in Connecticut. This was the outcome of founder Melissa Merkling’s original “eureka” moment in 1989. Over the years it required tender care by an increasing number of people, and help from the spiritual world. A school mission statement was generated which is still regarded as the main expression of the HVWS vision. Yet to further define the course of our objectives, a “bridge to the future,” the Long-Range Plan, developed years ago, outlining seven areas: Community, Enrollment, Programs, Organization, Site, Finance, and Development.

The Plan’s timetable includes three levels of objectives: the Long-Term Vision (a view of HVWS in 10 years’ time), the 3-Year Picture, and Critical Goals to Get There (tangible high-priority goals needed to achieve our vision, to be accomplished within the next 3 years). This plan is reviewed every few years.

When the Long-Range Plan meets real life, holding a steady course is challenged. Worldwide and local economies, models of administration and changing staffing, enrollment, program needs, facilities maintenance, and exceptional growth all conspire to confound the best-intentioned planners. At times it just boils down to cash flow.

In response to inevitable challenges, the Board and College have developed a plan to move the project forward efficiently. A mandate committee (a group of representatives from the Board and College) will review the next steps needed and develop a road-map to realizing our vision. Coincidentally, the completed work coincides with the start of our 25th Anniversary celebration (more details about that soon). In the meantime, it is good to know that the team takes pride in our legacy and looks forward to an exciting future, lovingly and carefully holding the welfare of the school and its future!